This family had many health issues from dirty water ... but not any longer!
Yasini Yusuf and his family, like millions of families at this very moment, had stomach issues related to contaminated water. He couldn't afford bottled water or medical treatment for the pain, and like any loving parents they were afraid of giving dirty water to their newborn.
However, what other other choice did they have?
Below is a picture of their water source, which is not only contaminated but in the rainy season is extra dirty due to flooding. The people of this community come to this water for their cows to drink from, as well as bathing, cleaning clothes & dishes, and yes... even drinking. Furthermore, since firewood is scarce (used for boiling water), many families resort to filling up a bucket with this water, waiting for the dirt to settle to the bottom, and then drinking what's left floating above.
Yasini + his family and many of the other households in his community received water filters at one of our outreaches last year.
Francis visited this community last week to follow up on how life has been since that outreach.
Yasini said in a conversation with Francis, "Ever since I got the filter my life is better. I no longer suffer from stomach issues. We even have clean water to give to our baby. We didn't have to go to the cost of buying bottled water, which we can't afford. We started giving our baby (3 months old) water and we didn't have to buy bottled water. She has used the filtered water all through and has no stomach problems."
This World Water Day, and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are more focused than ever as a global community on the need for washing hands, keeping hygiene in check, and being proactive about our individual and collective health, which includes drinking water that is safe for our bodies. While there have been many hardships and thousands of tragic deaths to this disease, we are confident that the combination of our efforts to wash up and self isolate has flattened the curve of its spread. There's hope.
Know that we are committed to praying for you, and we are committed to doing our part.
Lastly, we want to thank you on behalf of Yasini and hundreds of others who have benefited from safe water and basic hygiene training in ways many of us will never fully know or understand. Thank you for making it possible for one community at a time to have access to clean water. We believe it's a right every human being has and with help from friends like you we're working toward a world where everyone is given that right.
Will you join us in helping more families have access to safe water & basic hygiene education? It could literally save lives as COVID-19 begins making its way into East Africa, the Philippines, and other developing nations we're working in. Here are two simple ways we invite you to join us:
1. Today, as you wash your hands, remember it is a privilege to have water piped to our homes. As you scrub, simply pray for protection for those who currently do not have access to soap or water. And thank God for those who do, especially for families like Yasini's who have been impacted by our work.
2. If you are able, consider giving even $10 to help us prevent the spread of COVID-19 by increasing access to clean water and hygiene products for the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Every $1 gives 1 person safe water for 1 year. That's something worth investing in.
